Rider of Grimm
by God Of Knowledge
Summary: There is an ancient myth of a single man who commanded armies of Grimm. Legends tell that he almost wiped out humanity, and that one day he will return to finish the job. It is said that all life on Remnant will be destroyed. Most fear the end of the world and would do all they could to hold it off but, some want the story to end and what is the world if not one big storyboard?
1. Chapter 1

"That story was lame." Yang spoke at her sisters story, Ruby looked at her golden-haired sister before speaking up.

"Alright, you go next!" Ruby challenged her sister, the gold-haired girl grinned as her lilac

eyes looked at the others.

"Have you heard of the legend of Grimm-rider?" Yang smirked as she looked at the faces of her team members. It was an old myth, ancient, even. A legend as old as humanity itself, told to children to make them listen to their parents.

"The legend goes, that a thousand years ago, a man was born. The man wasn't human and he wasn't faunus. He was part human and he was part Grimm. He had the power to control the minds and bodies of both. He could change their bodies and he could order them to do his bidding. With this power, he and his Grimm army attacked the world. One by one, kingdoms fell. It wasn't until the Four Kingdoms came together that a war began, a war so horrible that we erased it from history.

Humanity was strong and brave but, they lacked the numbers and coordination of the Grimm. Their semblances? Useless. The Grimmrider could tear away their semblances and use them as his own. Soldiers sacrificed themselves in exchange for time, Scientists tried to find out how his power worked, and Inventors bound together to create a way to fight back. Inventions came and somehow, Humanity held it's own. Until the Grimmrider sent thousands of Grimm to stand outside a well armed city. When the last Grimm fell, their bodies floated upwards and created four creatures, so brutal and terrifying that they were named after the most basic of emotions. The Primal Grimm. Thousands of dead Grimm were only enough to make four of the creatures. Bullets were useless, so were blades and blunt attacks. Their fur was tougher than a Death Stalker's armor." Yang said with a smirk, it wasn't a famous legend but, she had to change a few parts. Stuff that she didn't remember or things that were boring. It was, after all, only a story.

"How did they beat them?" Ruby asked, interest gleaming in her eyes. Yes, she heard the story a few times. Yang read it to her once or twice before bed. Something always changed in it, the hero, the Rider's origin, Ruby read it and saw that it was mostly so that her sister wasn't reading her stuff about corpses and stuff like that.

"They didn't. They sealed them away, tied them deep in caves and did everything they could to stop the Primal Grimm. Then, they went after the Grimmrider. They pushed him back, cornered him. Huntsmen were useless, with their aura unlocked, he could just rip their souls away. So, they kept him pinned down for eighteen years. Long enough for the best of the best to train warriors that didn't use their aura. The warriors charged in, with the information that he could only be killed if his head was cut off, a stake was through his heart, and he was burnt up. Countless people died, souls of the long dead were summoned as the Grimmrider used their semblances against children and nieces. Still as young as the day the battle started. Finally, after millions had died, the Grimmrider was dead. But, legend says that one day, he will return and when he does, the world will end." Yang said ominously, with a sly grin on her lips as her eyes looked over the face of her team. Blake merely rolled her eyes.

"The legend says the world will change, not end." Blake pointed out, not bothering to correct the myriad of other errors that Yang made to the old fable. Yang shrugged before saying bringing up how boring of an ending that would have been.

Little did the girls know,

That at the source of every myth

Is a true story

and a new Grimmrider was walking

Archon walked down the street, he had a black cloak that covered his right arm, under which he had a white shirt along with a black. Black gloves covered his hands and on his legs were blue jeans. He had black and white shoes on, white strings and bottoms. His hair was white and his eyes were a dull crimson color. Metal gleamed between his glove and sleeve on his right arm, hinting at his mechanical arm.

He looked at the buildings, a book from a bookshop. Qrow, who had been serving as a kind of mentor for Archon for the past few weeks, had sent him to retrieve a book of some sorts. It was supposedly the last few of it's kind. There it was, Tukson's Book Trade. Apparently the book in question had came in a few days ago. A bell chimed as Archon walked in.

Books lined wooden shelves and decorated every surrounding. A man stood at the counter, a faunus but, Archon was unsure of the type. It was rather obvious. "Welcome to Tuskon's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." The Faunus said, presumably Tukson.

"Do you have _The Third Crusade_?" Archon asked, Tukson raised an eyebrow. Something was up, eyebrows are never raised for no reason. Tukson raised his mouth to speak but, hesitated a moment before actually articulating the words.

"We don't seem to carry that one." Tukson said, a pinch of something in his voice that seemed to set off an alarm in Archon's mind.

"What about _Ex Oblivione_ or _From Beyond_?" Archon asked, these two more for his own enjoyment than a request from Qrow. Tukson scratched the side of his head before replying.

"I can check the back but, I got a lot of books back there. Come back in an hour or two." Tukson said and Archon merely nodded before walking out. He'd come back in an hour, until then he would check around town. He opened the door and left with the ring of a bell.

On his way away from the bookstore, he passed a grey-haired boy and a green-haired girl. Something about those two made his instincts growl but, he tried his best to ignore it. They weren't hostile to him. Archon clenched his metallic fist.

"Now, where to go?" Archon mused as he continued down the street, he did need to pick up some more dust and he seemed to remember a re-opening nearby.

By the time Archon returned, Tukson had been murdered. The white-haired boy had immediately called the police and, the area was roped off. The cops were, in polite words, not the brightest. It was a disappointment as well, Tukson didn't seem to be a bad person. The metal-limbed man walked out. People die though, that's a simple fact.

Now, after the classes at Signal were over, Archon would go and tell Qrow that the book wasn't there. Archon looked at the academy above the hill, Beacon was it's name. Although Archon asked if he could attend before, his teacher always responded by saying that Archon wasn't "Stable enough" and that the mechanical-armed boy was "Too dangerous" to attend that public of a place. Archon felt liked he just needed to prove that he was ready, that he could control himself. Qrow had let his niece go to the academy two years before she normally would have went, or at least that's what the scythe wielder claimed. If it wasn't for pictures, Archon would not have believed this 'Ruby Rose' girl existed.

That was a while ago. Since then, Archon had furthered his 'training' which involved little actual combat training. It was more mental sharpening, Qrow had decided that the white-haired boy needed to learn how to maintain calmness. The battles that did proceed, involved Qrow utterly destroying Archon.

Eventually, the time came where Archon would prove himself. Signalled by a giant robot running down the street. You see, our white-haired, black-cloaked protagonist was riding in a taxi that was, rather abruptly, knocked into the air.

The car landed on the dark road. Archon looked at his rather shook up driver and grinned before speaking. "I already paid you, right?" The response was a nod from the driver and Archon pulled up his black scarf to cover his mouth. "Consider the amount you didn't take me as a… donation." Archon said before pushing the door, which was now above him, off and jumping out. "After all, I'm not gonna miss this." Archon's eyes flashed blood red for less than half a second before he sprinted after a yellow and black motorcycle, the only part of skin that could be seen beneath the clothing was an area around his eyes, the rest being concealed by the hood's shadow or the scarf. This was the day he was waiting for, the day he would prove himself to Qrow.

Fog blanketed the area, this had to be the place. Red lasers locked onto a falling figure but, their time was short and they couldn't fire. Balls of fire burst from the fog at the robot, an ungloved robotic arm being their source. More balls of flame left from the palm of the robotic hand, which had opened up like a gate to reveal a hole. The mecha locked onto the revealed target who leapt backwards into the fog, just in time to avoid being hit by the robot's machine gun.

"Checkmate." A two people leapt at the mech as Archon watched from the shadow, a stab in one of it's targeting sphere's and backflips away from the explosions of fire rockets ensured the duo's safety. Except for the white one, which managed to cast something on the black-haired one. Archon watched intently through the fog, A flurry of slashes sent a myriad of slash-like projections, Archon dodged them and began walking away, he wasn't needed here. As he walked away though, he noticed something, or rather someone, through the fog. Someone with a red hood, a red hood he had seen in family photos. "Qrow's niece." He whispered to himself before leaving into the night.

"That was risky." Blake muttered to Yang as they left, their conversation being about the earlier battle.

"What are you talking about?" Yang asked as she looked at the Cat Faunus, who merely looked back at her confused.

"The balls of fire when we were running in the fog, those weren't yours?" Blake asked once more, clarifying her earlier statement, to which the golden-haired girl shook her head.

"Wait that wasn't you?" Weiss asked, who also thought that the fire dust that was shot came from their local golden girl.

"Was someone else there?" Yang asked the other members of the team, Ruby placed her hand on her chin before remembering something.

"I did someone in black and white through the fog but, I thought it was Blake." The red-cloaked girl vocalized.

Ozpin received a message from a friend of his, Qrow. The message told Ozpin that Qrow had reason to believe that Ruby, along with three other people, were fighting an Atlas Paladin and that it caused considerable damage to various cars on the interstate. When Ozpin asked Qrow for a source, the response was merely 'Wandering Pawn'. This response resulted in a rather loud sigh from Ozpin.

Archon grinned as he rode up to Beacon Academy, he had been given permission to deliver a message to a man named Ozpin, Qrow seemed to be hesitant to trust the security of whatever he normally used to message Ozpin. Archon looked around as he walked onto the school grounds. It was bigger than he thought. Beacon Academy, he planned on attending here but, wasn't here fast enough to sign up. He needed the school's resources to accomplish his goals. Yes, he had goals, or rather a goal. But, that goal had many steps before it was completed. The first of which, involved becoming a student at Beacon.

The white-haired boy opened the door, walked into a building and then, he promptly turned around a left. He had left his cloak at home but, kept his scarf. He wasn't sure that bringing a cloak to a prestigious academy was a rather bad idea. He had to find help and then walked into the building once more. A girl wearing a red hood in a group of four girls immediately shattered his cloak theory. Well, he found a guide.

"Excuse me." Archon said before jogging over to the girls, who stopped to look at him. He had a sneaking suspicion that these were the four girls that fought the mech on the highway.

"What do you want?" A white-haired girl asked, her voice was rather formal but, Archon shook it off.

"I'm here to deliver a message to a man named," Archon paused before looking at the name on the envelope, "Ozpin."

"The Headmaster? He's at the top of the tallest tower." A golden-haired girl informed, Archon laughed before admitting that he had no idea where anything was.

"Come on." A black-haired girl said, motioning for him to follow. Once the white-haired boy and black-haired girl were away from the other three girls, Archon spoke.

"What's your name?" Archon asked, The black-haired girl looked at him with golden eyes, and Archon's crimson ones looked back.

"Blake." Blake responded briefly.

"Do your friends know you're a faunus?" Archon said, looking at the girl's bow. Blake stopped midstep and her hand went to the hilt of her weapon. Archon raised his hands and backedup."Calm down, I just thought it was strange that you were hiding it." The girl glared before walking away.

"Great going, Archon. You pissed off your tour guide." Archon said before walking forward, maybe he would find someone else to help him. He sat down in the hallway, back against a wall. He wandered the halls for an hour and was still lost. Honestly, how could people live in this maze?

"Are you lost?" An older looking man with silver hair asked, to which Archon nodded before standing up.

"I'm delivering a message to the Headmaster." Archon spoke to which the silver-haired man with glasses raised an eyebrow.

"From who?" Ozpin asked, and Archon looked at the silver-haired man inquisitively.

"I can't say."

"Well, I am Headmaster Ozpin." The silver-haired man asked, Archon pulled out a picture that Qrow gave him and compared the man to the picture.

"It's from Qrow." Archon said, and Ozpin grabbed the envelope. Qrow wouldn't send a letter by courier for no reason. Ozpin nodded before sticking the message in his pocket.

"Qrow must trust you a lot to have you send me this." Ozpin vocally observed, Archon knew it was on purpose.

"I am his apprentice." The white-haired boy said, Ozpin nodded before asking a question. 

"How old are you?" A slight squint in Ozpin's eyes although, Archon couldn't tell what emotion it carried.

"Seventeen." Archon had to be honest, he had no idea how old he was. He felt like seventeen was close, give or take a year. The white-haired human didn't have a 'normal' childhood so facts like that were unknown to him, hell, he didn't even have a name until Qrow named him Archon.

"Why are you studying under Qrow?" Ozpin asked, Archon's crimson eyes looked over the headmaster before speaking.

"I arrived in town a few months ago so, I didn't get to apply." Archon said to the headmaster, who looked over Archon, searching for a weapon.

"I see. I could allow you to enroll in my school but, first I need to know if you can fight and if you have a weapon." Ozpin spoke, his tone more… authoritarian.

Archon took the glove on his right hand off and rolled up his sleeve.

"A robotic arm?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow, both in surprise at the weapon and that Qrow, a scythe wielder, was teaching someone who used a weapon like this.

"It's also a blade," Archon began, a blade coming out of a slot on top of his wrist, the blade was hidden inside of the mechanical forearm, "a grappling hook," Archon pulled on the blade with his left hand while activating the grappling mechanism, a thin metal string revealed itself, the string acting as both a grappling hook and the method for retracting the blade. The blade went back in it's compartment and Archon turned his mechanical hand palm up. "a gun," In the middle of his palm, a seal slid open, revealing a hole going into his arm. "and it's a screwdriver." Archon finished, his index finger opening up revealing a rather small spoon hidden in it. The spoon was capable of rotating and had a perfect record of never spilling any liquid, neither milk nor soup.

"So, your robotic arm is also a wrist-mounted blade, a grappling hook, and a gun?" Ozpin asked, to which Archon felt the need to correct him.

"And a spoon." Archon spoke, for a rather simple feature, you would be surprised how complex it was. Arguably the most complex component of Archon's right arm, actually that's probably an overstatement.

"Ah yes, do you mind if I ask how it works?" Ozpin inquired, mechanical replacements for missing limbs weren't rare but, he couldn't remember hearing about a mechanical limb that also functioned as multiple weapons.

"It's kind of complicated, It may take a while." Archon admitted, to which Ozpin sighed.

"Maybe later then, there is actually a way I can test you to see if you're willing to fight." Ozpin offered, to which Archon smiled. A sparring match? Archon had won dozens of sparring matches before he began studying under Qrow. Although, most were life-or-death and he suspected the losing penalties for this sparring match weren't as severe.

"Okay, Team Cardinal, Miss Nikos, are you both ready?" Glynda Goodwitch, a teacher at Beacon Academy began. The combatants were never given a chance to answer because, as if on cue, the doors to the arena opened. The duo who walked onto the what would soon be a battleground? Headmaster Ozpin and a white-haired boy.

"I would like to make a request." Ozpin said with a raise of his hand. Everyone's eyes were switching between Ozpin and this new kid.

"What is it?" Glynda asked a little angry that the headmaster interrupted her class.

"I would like Miss Nikos to fight this boy." Ozpin spoke, by the chain of command it was an order but, it sounded more like a request.

"Very well, Team Cardinal please return to the stands. Mister…?" Glynda said, asking for the white-haired boy's name at the end.

"Archon." The white-haired boy said before ripping his left sleeve off. His mechanical right arm was now revealed.

"Very well, Mister Archon are you ready?" Glynda asked, to which Archon asked a question, a rather important one.

"What are the victory conditions?" Archon asked as he unsheathed his wrist-mounted blade.

"The fight ends when one of you is unconscious or I say that the fight is over." Glynda informed, earning a nod from Archon.

"Miss Nikos, are you ready?" Glynda asked, earning a yes from the red-head.

"Very well, Begin."

Pyrrah raised her shield as Archon dashed forward. She prepared to block the attack as she advanced forward. Archon leapt in the air and spun, she braced for the attack that would soon come but, it didn't. In it's stead, the boy placed a hand on the shield and vaulted over. The blade that was atop his hand was gone, a hole had appeared on his hand and orbs of flame were shot at Pyrrah, who managed to turn just in time to block. She placed her musket in it's slot and began firing at him. Archon shot balls of fire back, the orbs of flame colliding with the bullets as the two cancelled each other out.

"Where have you seen that attack before?" Yang brought up to her team as they watched fight. Blake's eyes narrowed.

"That's the boy from the hall earlier." Weiss added as he side stepped a shot, now sprinting towards Pyrrah. His fists were clenched as his feet carried him to the shield and musket. He grabbed the shield with his hand and ripped it from the girl's grasp. The shield flew across the room after he threw it. He was met with a blade biting into right arm. He leapt back and saw the shield flying at him from the corner of his eye. He managed to twist his body in mid air and avoid the homing shield. He had no time to rest from the dodge though, he immediately had to block a horizontal slash from the girl with his wrist-mounted blade. The slight movement in his arm as she swung, enough to allow her to graze Archon's shoulder, triggered alarms all over the white-haired boy's mind.

"You're not bad." Archon said as he blocked a vertical strike with his forearm. He spun from under the blade, keeping his arm blocking it until his body was far enough to move it safely, or as safely as possible. Archon had to think of something, a plan. This girl, she could change how he moved. He wasn't sure how but, she was doing it, albeit she was being subtle about it. Psychological warfare? Archon was surprised. He once did something similar although, his methods of instilling fear weren't as subtle.

Archon had to keep his eyes from flashing red. The moment his feet hit the ground he rolled backwards. A shielded warrior charging forward. Archon was crouched like a sprinter about to start a race. His bladed arm going straight from his mechanical shoulder. The girl stopped, moving to a crouched stance as her sword turned into a musket. Archon moved his arm, pointing his blade at the ground near her. The blade shot out, tearing itself a place in the floor before forcefully pulling Archon to it. The moment he got there he retracted the blade and punched Pyrrah. The girl went backwards. Archon wouldn't let up, he had to build off of this attack, her defense was superhuman. This may be his only chance. He uppercutted her with his left hand before she had time to react. The red-head sailed upwards into the air, the white-haired boy leaping in the air after her.

"Pyrrah!" Jaune yelled before Rin smirked.

Pyrrah threw her shield towards the ground. Archon spun in the air and elbowed her to the ground. The shield hitting his chin as Pyrrah landed in a roll, her weapon now firing at him while he was in the air. Archon roped to the ceiling. He had to complement the trap. He unhooked the blade from it's spot as he was retracting upwards and the blade flew back to it's slot, Archon used the momentum from it to spin once more. A click only audible to him signalled that he had switched his dust ammo. He fired the ice ammunition at the girl, barely making the shot but, managing to freeze the shield to the girl's back. For some strange reason, he shot upwards, towards the ceiling. Pyrrah didn't stop shooting, she managed to lead her shot and hit the boy, who blocked with his left arm instead of his mechanical right one but, no damage appeared on the scoreboard. Archon fired back, using his left arm as a shield as his right fired the blade to the ground, pulling him towards the warrior, whose gun switched to a sword.

Archon's wristblade hit her sword and bounced off, only for the two blades to meet one another on the next strike. They hit again on the strike after that, metal ringing on metal as their blades clashed. Archon felt the tug again, pulling his arm away to miss the block. He retracted his blade and prepared for the inevitable.

Pyrrah's blade hung centimeters from his throat. "It was a good fight." Pyrrah said to Archon, who looked up at the roof. Pyrrah was, to put it lightly, confused about why he wasn't looking at her. "You should move over some." Archon spoke as his gaze finally shifted to the red head. Who looked apprehensively a white-ice spike fell from the roof. It suspended in midair as Glynda held it in the air, seemingly effortlessly.

"It's a tie." Glynda said as she moved the massive shard of ice away from the two combatants. Archon looked at Ozpin expectantly, If Archon had won, he would get enrollment, if he lost, he would not. So, what about a tie?

"Congratulations, Archon. You are now a student at Beacon Academy." Ozpin said as he handed Archon a scroll.

"We don't have any available teams for you to join. Qrow, apparently, knows about this and said that he would prefer for you to be alone for a while." Ozpin informed whilst flashing the letter Archon handed him earlier. The letter, it had been about Archon?

"I understand." Archon nodded as he put the scroll in his pocket. He was here, he was a student at Beacon. Archon couldn't wait, he looked up at the clockwork roof of Ozpin's office. Then scanned out the windows. Here, here it would begin.

Here, a new legend shall be born.


	2. Chapter 2

_ "Subject has been subdued." A scientist spoke, blood covered the arms of his labcoat as the test subject's brown eyes darted around looking at the polished white room. A white clamp held each of his arms on the bicep and wrist. His legs were locked down the same way, just above the knee and just above his ankle. His stomach was strapped down and a metal clamp held his head in place._

_ "Prepare injection for right forearm." A disembodied voice ordered through the loudspeaker. One of the four scientists grabbed a syringe, it held a red and black liquid. The man barely pressed it and a single bead came out the tip._

_ "Inserting in three… two… one." The black-haired boy tried to break out of the metal bindings, out of this hellish future that he knew was coming. He hadn't asked for this. He hadn't wanted to become a test subject. None of them did. The dead that had been killed by humans or medicines. The living that were to be subjected to this hellish test. He tried to struggle, he tried to push the metal off, to fray and break it. It was a pointless struggle. The needle pierced his arm and the liquid entered his veins. The spot where the needle had pierced turned charcoal black and spread at fast rate._

_ "Injection has entered bloodstream and subject has become infected." One scientist spoke as another walked over to the tool table._

_ "Amputate his arm, we need them alive from now on." The loudspeaker spoke as a blade plunged through the boy's arm. He screamed in agony his whole body trembling as his right arm was removed from his body._

_ "Sir, we really should be sedating the test subjects." One scientist, the kindest of the scientists, spoke._

_ "If you want continued funding and support for your personal project, you will do what I order how I order. Understand." The disembodied voice spoke, intimidating the scientist without even being present._

_ "Patch him up and bring in the next test subject. We'll give him a few days to heal before testing on his left arm." The voice announced as they began patching up the stump where the black-haired boy's shoulder once was._

Archon sat up, drenched in sweat. His mechanical right arm had a clenched fist as he sighed, his breath ragged as he curled up into a ball and wrapped his arms around his legs. "Just a dream." He muttered to himself as he looked around his dorm room, three empty beds in it. "Just a dream." He repeated to make himself calm down. Regardless, he wasn't getting anymore sleep tonight.

"Mister Archon, I ask, why do you not know of the Faunus Rights Revolution?" Professor Oobleck asked the white-haired boy, who looked very confused. Archon was in his school uniform, along with black gloves and his scarf.

"I don't know? I wasn't taught it." He admitted, he had to make up a semester of classes in the past week before he was allowed to do missions. Most things were rather hard, in only his combat-related classes he managed to excel. It was history, math, and pretty much every other class that he had trouble with. He was never taught any of it. As a child, he was taught skills to survive and combat oriented classes. Combat, dust techniques, battle tactics, weapon maintenance, things like that. Science, math, and history? Forget it. He had the most basic understanding of math, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and those few academic things he knew, he knew well.

"Well, you are caught up in every class other than history, although barely! Therefore, I shall give you a test in an hour on everything! If you fail it, you will not go on any missions after the dance until you do so!" It was a miracle, really, that Archon managed to catch up on all most everything. He had barely slept, when he did he had nightmares. It had been months but, he still had nightmares about that damned place.

He had seven hours until the dance. He had six hours to memorize a century's worth of history. He pored over the history books, reading every page a dozen times. Five hours left. Four hours left. Time ticked forward, Archon's stomach growled as he flipped another page. He hadn't ate. He would eat after the test. Three hours. He was on the last chapter. His brain ached, his eyes threatened to flutter to sleep with every blink. Archon had two hours left as he closed the book. He laid down, a quick nap.

He had ten minutes before his test started. He was in a tux, something that he felt was necessary. He really didn't care for dances, he could dance anyways. He wanted to do the mission though, he suspected that he would get assigned to a group rather than pick a mission.

The test was timed, mostly because he had to finish it before the dance started. He had expected this and began working immediately. A hundred questions in half an hour. He brought up his memories and each question fell. All he had to do was pass, not be perfect. Thirty seconds left when he was on question ninety. He filled in the last answer right as time was called. Oobleck appeared in front of him and lifted the paper before running at an inhuman speed back to his deck. Oobleck's hand was a blur as he checked the papers, the occasional mark made Archon's heart stop. In what seemed like hours, but was really not even a handful of minutes, Oobleck beckoned for Archon to approach. The white-haired boy gulped before walking over. Seventy-three out of a hundred. It was a passing grade, albeit not a great grade but, he wanted to pass. He could always work on improving his grade at a later date. "Congratulations, Mister Archon."

Archon checked his gloves and suit as he walked out of the classroom. His arm wasn't showing. This tux was tailored for him, courtesy of Qrow, or Ozpin. Archon wasn't sure at this point. Over the week he learned that Ozpin's expectations matched Qrow, just how much had Qrow told the headmaster? Archon physically shook his head to clear the thoughts, his messy white hair moving to cover his eye as he did so, making him brush it above his eyes.

"Welcome to the dance." The blonde girl, who Archon couldn't help but remember. She fought the mech and he remembered seeing pictures of her at Qrow's house as well.

"Thanks." Archon said as he walked in. Ten minutes? Really, he had gotten here ten minutes early. If Oobleck was going to test him, he could've given him some extra time. Archon thought the absurdly short amount of time he was given to test was because Oobleck needed time to grade but, the green-haired teacher was existing at some kind of superspeed. Archon walked to the side of the dance floor and looked around.

It looked, well, nice. Balloons hung up high and there were tables and chairs. Archon walked over to one chair in particular, it was a special chair because nobody was near it. Did he want to make friends? Sure but, most people were on the floor talking to one another or waiting for someone. He would make friends later, not tonight. Actually, he hadn't eaten or drank anything since before he started studying today. He stood up and headed towards the punch bowl, just in time to see a blonde guy walking away, looking a bit angry.

"What's up with him?" Archon asked as he began pouring punch. It was Qrow's niece, Ruby. Ruby merely shrugged. Then silence as took his first sip of punch.

"You're Qrow's niece, right?" Archon asked, trying not to let the silence become awkward. Ruby looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah….?" The black haired girl asked, her hair tipped with red. She looked at Archon who sipped on his punch before responding.

"He was my teacher before I came here, he had a lot of pictures of you and some blonde girl." Archon explained but, this statement only furthered Ruby's confusion.

"You don't use a scythe." Ruby said with a wary look, not sure to believe him.

"He wasn't teaching me combat, more of how to use my… ability." Archon specified, remembering that Qrow used a scythe. Ruby's gaze slowly shifted from caution to a normal look.

"He taught me how to fight." Ruby said, reminiscing about her scythe, Crescent Rose. It was constantly with her whenever she wasn't at school. She missed it, it not being with her made her feel… weaker.

"I… I taught myself." Archon spoke solemnly. It was a mostly true statement, he learned the basics in classes but, he sharpened his abilities through actual combat. They talked a bit longer, mostly about fighting. Their conversation, however, was interrupted by someone wearing a dress. Of course, at a dance many people wear dresses however, the wearer of this dress was a guy. Ruby had bursted out laughing and, Archon decided to walk away. He had thought it was funny and he laughed along with everyone else. He just wasn't sure how to continue his conversation with Ruby.

The craziest of things happened, the man in the dress and three other people, who Archon suspected were his friends or teammates, or both, danced together.

Ruby walked outside, either to get away from everyone or for fresh air, and saw someone jumping across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Archon headed around the side of the dance floor. He wasn't sure what time was appropriate to leave and didn't want to seem like a jerk.

Penny did the robot, this. dance. was. awesome. Sure, she would like to dance with other people but, she was happy that her father let her go, even if she had to have two guards accompany her. She looked around and noticed something. A boy with white hair walked around the edge of the dance floor. It was strange, as she looked at him it brought a strange feeling to her mind. It was like meeting a childhood friend for the first time in a decade and you couldn't recognize. Then, a red warning sign appeared in her vision, then another, and another. It was the first time this had happened. A red circle appeared around the white-haired boy and more warnings appeared, her vision went completely black.

Penny didn't fall unconscious. She didn't black out or anything of the like. Instead, something happened. Something wired deep within her brain activated, something that told her one thing. She needed to terminate the white-haired boy. Blades emerged from her back, spinning in a circle behind her. The guards looked confused, they didn't expect Penny to do something. The blades pointed at Archon before flying forward, people screamed and ran out of the way. Archon leapt out of the way. He pulled off his right hand glove and placed it on the ground. This tuxedo was expensive and he wasn't going to rip the gloves.

The adult guests turned to look at the scene. Ironwood looked at the two before staring at the white-haired boy.

"Listen, I don't really-" Archon's sentence was cut short as a sword turned and flew at him, he leapt up and it flew under him as he stared. This girl was trying to kill him. Another blade flew and he ducked before it spun around and flew at him once more. He rolled to the side as it stuck in the ground where he was. Nobody was armed except for him, none of the teachers nor students. He, however, was armed. Although, Archon didn't want to fight right now so, he dodged as the blonde teacher, Glynda Goodwitch, if Archon remembered correctly, ran outside and a crashing sound was heard outside. Ironwood headed outside as well, albeit for different reasons. He had contacts to speak to.

The blades formed a pinwheel and spun at Archon, who rolled to avoid them, a trail of slash marks in the ground left in the bladewheel's wake. Archon sighed as the blades formed a row and flew forwards. Archon shot at the only one that was close enough to hit him. It bounced back and sold him the time he needed to move behind a pillar. His tux wasn't ripped, that was the first good sign.

Glynda walked in fuming with anger as the blades, Penny, and Archon all hovered in midair. She pointed her riding crop and the building repaired it's damage. Penny was limp and Archon was looking at everyone. The swords retracted into the synthetic human as the two students floated outside.

"What is your relation with Archon?" Ozpin asked, he was sitting at his desk. Penny sitting in a chair with her head down as Ironwood looked out the window.

"I don't even know who that is." Ironwood said as he looked out at the city.

"Really? It was one of your students who attacked him for no obvious reason. I think you and I both know that you're hiding something." Ozpin spoke to the General. Who sighed loudly.

"Ozpin, if I knew something, I would tell you. I have no idea why Penny did this." Ironwood said, gesturing his hand towards Penny. Who continued to look depressed.

"Yes, Penny, you still don't remember anything about the incident?" Ozpin questioned, Penny merely nodded in response.

The door opened to reveal Ruby Rose who looked appolegtic.

"Sorry I took so long. Somebody pressed all the buttons on the way up…. It wasn't me." Ruby apologized.

Archon stepped into his room and laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. That girl, why did she attack him?

"Don't worry about it. We leave for our mission in a couple hours." Archon thought. Qrow had been the one to ask Ozpin to give Archon this mission. It was a second year mission. Archon could handle it though, he had to. It was necessary for his goal. He had to find the information, to do something. He had to avenge them. He slapped himself with his left hand and stared at the glove that covered it before clenching it into a fist. He **had** to do this.

The lecture hall, people from all schools had gathered, all first years. Archon walked to the back of the room. He noticed the occasional look before leaning on the back wall and watching Ozpin.

A war eighty years ago, a war on creativity and art. This was that day's anniversary. Information on the war flickered through Archon's brain, like he had heard of it yesterday. He had, it was in the book that he read for his history test.

It was a horrible battle, a war that covered the whole of Remnant.

Archon listened, he listened and was inspired. Qrow trusted Ozpin, so did Archon. Ozpin asked Archon of what happened and trusted him. The two of them had hardly spoke but, Ozpin believed Archon.

If Archon was honest, he didn't know where he was going after the speech so, he looked for Ozpin, who was talking to Ruby and her team. Archon walked over to Ozpin. "I have no idea where I'm going." Archon said to the headmaster, who looked at the white-haired boy.

"Well then, I suppose Team RWBY can lead you there." Ozpin said, gesturing to Ruby and her team, the four of which looked very confused. Ozpin looked at the girls before explaining.

"Archon doesn't have a team yet so, I intended on sending him on a mission with a team. I had already planned with your hunter for this mission on sending Archon on that mission." Ozpin explained, this helped the girls moderately but, one in particular was still not very… contempt.

"He's a first year student too, you know." Weiss said, her arms crossed as she looked at the white-haired boy.

"Yes, I am well aware. I bent the rules for him and did the same for you however, I can always take that privilege away." Ozpin added, looking at the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, who still looked discontent.

"I just don't understand why we would need his help. What if he messes up our search?" Weiss said as team RWBY came into view of the Bullhead. The hunter they were assigned to, Professor Oobleck, was waiting for them and they could see Archon sat down, leaning on the wall inside the ship asleep.

"We'll just have to deal with it." Blake spoke as they approached Oobleck and their conversation stopped, being replaced by a new one.

"I guess I've just never seen you as much of a fighter." Yang spoke to Doctor Oobleck, who had insisted on the doctor part.

"I admit I fancy myself as more of an intellectual but, I can assure you, as a huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles ." Oobleck spoke matter-of-factly, he was a huntsman and a scholar… and a gentleman.

"Like the mushroom?" Ruby asked, very confused by Oobleck's statement about him eating his fair share of mushrooms.

"Those are truffles." Blake informed to her teammate. Ruby scratched her head, still confused.

"Like the sprout?" Ruby asked once more.

"Those are brussels." Yang corrected.

"Like the clam?" Ruby asked a final time. This time, it was Archon who answered.

"Those are mussels."

"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular… assignment!" Oobleck spoke rapidly, Archon wondered if the teacher thought about what he would say before hand and just said it as fast as he could.

"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss asked the teacher, who turned sharply to look at her, appalled by the question.

"Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager." Oobleck said, thinking aloud at the end with a very strange thought pattern. Archon was still surprised by the teacher's actions.

"And that means…?" Weiss hinted at wanting an elaborations, which Oobleck promptly gave.

"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!" Oobleck stated waving his finger all over the place as Ruby's eyes widened in realization.

"Mountain Glenn." She spoke with the faintest hint of awe, or perhaps sadness. Archon couldn't tell

"That's right! It was an expansion of Vale...but in the end, it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city." Yang got a bit more depressed as the sentence went on.

"Correct! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder." Oobleck said, his index finger pointing skywards, despite the fact that they were already in the sky.

"And a likely place for a hideout." Blake commented, earning a smile from Oobleck as he adjusted his glasses.

"Precisely!"

Archon grinned, he didn't know why they were looking for a hideout but, he was looking for one as well, or at least the ruins of one. A place that he had once been to, a place that he had once destroyed.

The Bullhead dove downwards but, not enough to throw the six off balance before it hovered above the ground. Team RWBY and Archon jumped out, Archon had his scarf and a tunic that had it's right sleeve missing, he called it his 'battle shirt'.

They all landed, weapons drawn. Yang had her fists in a fighting stance, Blake's hand was on the hilt of her blade, Weiss landed on one knee with her rapier at the ready and Ruby hefted her massive scythe. Archon's robotic arm had it's blade extended. Oobleck simply sipped on his coffee.

"Ladies… and gentleman, you may still be students but, as of now, your first mission as huntsmen as begun! From this point forward, you will need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" He asked, everyone nodded but, Oobleck suddenly looked to the scythe-wielder, "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all your bags at school."

"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet… So I didn't." Ruby spoke hesitant at first but, becoming confident with her loophole after she thought of it. Archon was surprised at the girl, not only did she manage to hold a scythe of an impossibly large size, she also managed to find a loophole in Oobleck's… 'orders'.

"She's not wrong," Oobleck muttered to himself before, making a split-second decision, "Very well; Ruby, leave your bags here, we can pick them up upon our return." Oobleck decided as something in her bag made it move around.

"But, I, uh!" Ruby tried to argue, Oobleck moved forward before speaking.

"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with-" Oobleck was cut off by a dog's head popping out from the bag. Ruby smuggled a dog onto the plane, somehow made it go unnoticed, and planned on keeping it a secret the entire time?

Everyone could merely stare in response as the dog barked, confirming that it existed and they weren't having some kind of mass hallucination.

"Get back in the bag." Ruby whispered out the side of her mouth, trying to keep the dog a secret, which was pointless due to the fact that everyone had seen it by that point. The dog responded with a bark.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought… a dog?" Oobleck asked, not confused, no he was surprised. His question wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I, uhh…" Ruby tried to think of something to say, something that would make her seem less suspect.

"Genius!" Oobleck backed away just long enough for Ruby to give a confused shrug before speeding past her at his inhuman speed and snatching the pet away from it's red-hooded owner, who tumbled to the ground as Doctor Oobleck spun the dog in the air and applauded Ruby, "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!"

The dog barked happily at the complement.

Ruby merely stared at the doctor, dumbfounded at his… intelligence? That wasn't the right word but, Ruby smiled as she pointed her thumb at her chest before stating, "I'm a genius!"

Weiss and Blake facepalmed and Archon sighed and looked down, what had he gotten himself into?

"So, what are your orders, Doctor?" Blake asked, dead serious as she looked at their Hunter.

"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!"Doctor Oobleck began before letting go of the dog, who suspended in midair for less than a second before dropping down to the ground. Oobleck put his hands behind his back, either to look serious or to look more proffessional, Archon couldn't tell which, "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm."

Now, Oobleck wasn't the most normal person but, the unnecessary redundancy was, well, confusing. Archon felt something, it was like when the hair on the back of your neck stood up out of fright although, the emotion of fear wasn't present. He stood around and immediately saw the cause.

"Uh, what?" Ruby, who was just as confused as the other girls, asked their teacher.

"Grimm. A creature of Grimm, Approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment." Oobleck stated, both him and Archon already looking at the creature as the members of team RWBY turned around.

"What!?" Yang growled as she spun around and everyone watched the beowolf that walked across the street, everyone except for Oobleck readied their weapons.

"Stop!" Oobleck commanded and everyone looked at him, slowly lowering their weapons.

"Huh?" Blake asked as she lowered her weapon, it's name was Gambol Shroud.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent." Oobleck spoke as he, and everyone else, looked at the beast that was now halfway across the road.

"So… what now?" Ruby spoke, a tinge unhappy that they wouldn't be fighting. The concrete pillars and abandoned buildings would make for all kinds of neat moves.

"We wait. We track. if this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Oobleck informed, gesturing with his free hand as his other held his coffee.

"How long do we wait?" Yang asked, her hands now on her hips as

she spoke. The golden gauntlets, Ember Celica, already extended to fight.

Oobleck cupped his hand over his mouth as he spoke, he was deep in thought, "It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months- and there's the whole pack." Oobleck now spoke at the rather obvious sight. Five beowolves now followed the first.

"What?" Weiss asked surprised at the revelation.

"And now they've seen us." Oobleck spoke as he looked upon the creatures.

"What!?" Weiss was now more shocked and then Oobleck appeared right behind her, mouth inches from her ear before yelling.

"And now they've seen us!" The volume of his voice making her instinctively move away from the doctor.

"I take it tracking is out of the question." Ruby said to her teacher who nodded before speaking.

"An accurate assumption, yes." His voice still as quick as ever.

"What's the plan then?" Yang asked, Oobleck looked over the five students, still looking professional under all this, still with his weapon undrawn.

"Show me what you're capable of."

Ruby let the blade of her scythe sink into the ground before taking aim. Yang charged forward, her fist connecting with a beowolf's head as she fired, adding extra impact. She ran forward, the group following her as some turned to look at the black haired member. Blake's hand was on her hilt as they ran at her from behind. She left what appeared to be a clone where she was as she leapt up and back-flipped, cutting the wolf in half and followed up by slicing another one. She chained the attacks, defeating the Grimm one by one. Weiss flipped over them, stabbing them with pinpoint accuracy one after another before charging forward, hitting each one of the group rapidly. Ruby fired shot after shot as the dog ran in circles at her side. She flipped her blade and shot, the recoil making her fly forward and allowing her to slice the Grimm ahead of her.

Archon grinned at his share. He lunged forward, his right hand at the ready as he stabbed one, the blade sinking deep within it as he jerked his hand to left, leaving the creature in half. Two more growled at him as he retracted his blade and turned his palm towards the creatures. Orbs of fire spat out at they collided with the Grimm, setting the creatures ablaze as he decapitated one. The other panicked, it's body flaming as he slammed it's head down with his fist, a sick crunching sound was heard as it's head dented the concrete.

Ruby lifted her weapon, which Archon was still surprised she could carry, before speaking, "Heh. Piece of cake!"

"Do not celebrate yet, for I am certain this is the first bout of many. Shall we continue?" Oobleck suggested.

He was correct in saying it was the first bout of many. Grimm appeared everywhere they went and Oobleck merely watched as Team RWBY and Archon dispatched the creatures, one by one. He admired the scenery, and despite everyone's thoughts, he wasn't just admiring the scenery. Doctor Oobleck was also looking for signs of criminal activity!

"Excellent work! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on!" Oobleck spoke, Archon raised a brow, so that's what they were looking for.

Ruby's scythe turned into a gun as she sheathed it and beckoned their dog, who Archon learned was named 'Zwei', to follow. Everyone was a bit tired but, not terribly so but, on top of the combat it was Yang who was visibly upset.

"Hey, Doc, y'know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a 'pro huntsman' in action. Like, fighting, or at least, helping us fight?" Yang wasn't sad, no she was irritated. She wanted to see Oobleck fight, how a real huntsman fought.

Oobleck looked over his shoulder, "Ah, but I am in action! Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity." He turned to the group and adjusted his glasses, "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination!" Yang reluctantly accepted 'serious' rebuttal from Oobleck. "Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that."

"Well, yeah... " Yang spoke, her hands slightly raised by her hips as she spoke, she tried to sound more firm and resolute, "Of course." The hint of irritation and disappointment still tinged her voice though.

After a later fight, Oobleck approached Yang and asked the golden-haired girl why she was a huntress, he corrected her when she said she helped people, arguing that that is what she did, not why she did it. Archon learned that Yang merely wanted to feel the rush of being in combat and adventuring.

Next, he approached Weiss, who could have had a rich and comfortable job in Atlas, he asked her the same question. Weiss fought because she wanted to uphold, or improve, her family name.

Blake was after Weiss, her answer to the question was a bit more noble than Wiess. She fought to improve the world, even though she didn't know how.

Archon was prepared to answer his but, he and team RWBY, minus Ruby, were told to set up camp. They talked as they did so about various things. He didn't spoke to them some but, felt a bit out of place. They were close friends, bonded through trials and him? He was just some random guy that was assigned to help them.

"I can't believe we didn't find anything." Yang complained changing their subject from Oobleck's questions, they were gathered around the campfire that they made. It was a bit hard to make, not because it was difficult but, because Yang and Archon both wanted to be the one to light it.

"We've always been fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side." Blake spoke, looking at the other girls and then noticing Archon, who must've been confused.

"That's not what I meant." Weiss said, going back to their earlier topic. Blake replied with a single 'Huh' and Weiss continued, "Earlier, about upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that."

"Yeah… No, me too. I mean… I don't know." Yang was depressed, or maybe just confused. She couldn't think of the right words, and Blake felt the same.

"I don't know, either. I know what I want to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time." Blake said in a similar tone to her golden-haired friend. Silence hung in the air for a moment before Oobleck rushed into the room.

"Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!" Yang stuck her tongue out at Archon. Who glared at the blonde girl.

"Fire…" Ruby said as she sat by the fire with Zwei, "So warm…" She purred.

"Archon, I don't seem to believe that I asked why you wished to be a hunter." Oobleck asked the white-haired student, who looked down at his robotic palm.

"Doctor, have you ever… have you ever witnessed a crime against humanity? Something that made you question how we weren't monsters like the things we hunt?" Archon clenched his fist. "I want to be a hunter so that I can solve those crimes. So that I can be the one to avenge my fallen friends. I want to fight for those who can't, either because those who can't are weak or dead. I want to be able to avenge the fallen and the weak and being a Hunter is the only thing I can think of that let's me do that within the law." Archon spoke his gaze subconsciously shifting from his right arm to his left. He would find those that broke him, and he would destroy them.

Silence hung in the room for seconds but, it felt like hours. Everyone, except for Ruby, looked at the mechanical arm of the white-haired boy. His crimson eyes glimmered.

"Very well then! I recommend you all eat your dinners and then head to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?" Oobleck asked, making binoculars with his hands as he looked over the five students.

Ruby, still gazing into the fire, raised a single arm and answered with a simple, "Yo."

"Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean… what did you tell him?" Yang stopped Ruby to ask, the red-hooded girl merely shrugged to her sister before answering.

"Hmm… No, he didn't. Wierd. Oh, well; good night, guys!" Ruby waved goodbye before heading to her lookout, not even giving the question a second thought. Yang was disappointed at the lack of an answer. Blake was also troubled as she unrolled her mat, Weiss couldn't sleep and Archon was lost in dark memories. Yang ate her bread rolls and soon, everyone was on their back around the fire, the three members of team RWBY who were laying down had their weapons within easy access and Archon was still armed.

"Hey, you ever wonder why we're here?" Yang asked as Archon fell asleep.


End file.
